The Parsis are a Zoroastrian community descended from Persians who emigrated to the Indian subcontinent, primarily to Gujarat, beginning around the eighth to tenth centuries CE to escape religious persecution following the Muslim conquest of Persia, and who today are concentrated chiefly in and around Mumbai. Adherents of Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions, founded by the prophet Zoroaster in ancient Persia, the Parsis maintain distinctive religious practices centered on fire temples and, traditionally, the Tower of Silence method of exposing the dead. Despite a very small and steadily declining population, Parsis have played an outsized role in modern Indian business, industry and philanthropy, including the Tata family that founded India's Tata Group.
Facts
Group TypeZoroastrian ethnic group 1 Typical RegionMumbai and a few towns and villages mostly to the south of Mumbai 1 Population Estimate Primary Language Partially Attested
Subsistence ModeSmall agricultural community (historical, South Gujarat) 1 Historical statement about about 800 years in South Gujarat; the same article says Parsis later became influential in trade and industry. Sources
1. Wikipedia: Parsis
Introduction, paragraph 1, sentence 1
a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent
Definition and identity
They live chiefly in Mumbai and in a few towns and villages mostly to the south of Mumbai
Infobox, pop1
57,264
Introduction, paragraph 5
The Gujarati-speaking Parsi community
Definition and identity, Britannica passage
they remained for about 800 years as a small agricultural community
Introduction, paragraph 1, sentence 1, alternative spelling
Parsis or Parsees
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